The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/774666
22 THE WOLVERINE FEBRUARY 2017 BY JOHN BORTON G o big or go home, they say. Well, Jim Harbaugh is al- ready home, and there isn't a fiber of his DNA that doesn't go big. When 2015 defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin moved on to assume head coaching duties at Maryland, Michi- gan fans fretted … momentarily. Har- baugh merely reached out and pulled in Don Brown, who fashioned the No. 2 scoring defense in the land in 2016. Now, passing game coordinator Jedd Fisch has thrown his talents to the West Coast, becoming UCLA's of- fensive coordinator. Harbaugh didn't flinch. Instead, he pulled another old friend out of the pros and into The Big House. Pep Hamilton, most recently the Cleve- land Browns' associate head coach in charge of offense, has signed on to be- come Michigan's assistant head coach and passing game coordinator. Who would ever leave the NFL to come back and coach college ball, right? Hamilton and Harbaugh are cer- tainly no strangers. The newest U-M coach directed the receivers for Har- baugh at Stanford in 2010. Hamilton remained in Palo Alto two more years, then rejoined quarterback Andrew Luck with the NFL's Indianapolis Colts as offensive coordinator in 2013, enjoying three years with him. For Michigan, it's another move toward building a championship- caliber program again, after coming up three plays away from undefeated in 2016. In Hamilton, the Wolverines brought in what many consider a home-run hire. PEP IN THEIR STEP Pep Hamilton Takes Over Michigan's Passing Game Hamilton was the wide receivers coach for Jim Harbaugh at Stanford in 2010, but has been in the NFL for the majority of his coaching career. PHOTO COURTESY CLEVELAND BROWNS